Bangladesh on edge as protests turn violent

Dhaka, January 5

Four BNP supporters were today shot dead and at least 200 persons injured in street clashes in Bangladesh with ruling Awami League activists on the first anniversary of the controversial polls, as opposition leader Khaleda Zia announced an indefinite nationwide blockade.

The unrest forced authorities to deploy paramilitary forces in sensitive areas.

Two Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists, in their 20s, were killed during clashes in northwestern Natore district.

In Kansat town, another protester died of his wounds after clashes with police and border guards, police said. The fourth death was reported from northwestern Rajshahi where police fired live rounds at hundreds of protesters who attacked them.

According to reports, at least 200 persons were injured in violence in different parts of the country while police arrested some 600 activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its crucial ally fundamentalist Jamaat-e- Islami.

Zia, the BNP chief who had refused to participate in the January 5 elections branding it as "farce", remained cordoned off inside her Gulshan office here since Saturday night.

Security forces, including women police, were deployed outside the building.

Meanwhile in a nationally televised address today, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina advised Zia to shun the path of violence and refrain from "sabotage, violence and killing people".

Hasina said the ex-premier herself was to be blamed for leading the BNP to its current state of disarray and she should try to reorganise her party.

The arch-rivals - Hasina and Zia - ruled Bangladesh for most of the last 30 years.

The opposition had planned nationwide rallies today to mark the first anniversary of what they describe as "Democracy Killing Day". The election last year led to re-election of Hasina.

Dozens of Zia supporters today tried to break the siege of her office, but were prevented by police who lobbed pepper spray at them. Several people reported injured in the incident.

Zia, 69, after failing to get out of her office, called for an indefinite blockade of roads, railways and waterways across Bangladesh until further notice. — PTI